I did get to play San Juan after all! Gameblogger was kind enough to teach me the rules — it’s an easy game, if you already know Puerto Rico. In return, she did get probably one of her easier victories… I lost dramatically, but I didn’t quite figure out what my buildings did (I didn’t want to spend too much time reading the translations). I didn’t have a clue what I did, but at least now I know how the game works. It’s card-driven economy is very interesting.
Hopefully, I’ll get a copy of the game next week so I can explore it further. Anyway, looks like San Juan is solidly on my to-get list (it’s not to-buy-list, because I’m trying to be cheap).